What is The She Shift?

Author Melissa Clark said that “The She Shift” is the story of the shift in history to the beginning of “her story.” The reason Clark wrote “The She Shift” is because, several years ago, when she was getting her start in the wellness field, Clark happily noticed that women were really starting to empower other women and connect entrepreneurially with other women. She started seeing a shift in the world taking place. At the time, she had contributed to a compilation book about people’s life stories, and she decided that it would be a great idea to “have various businesswomen share their stories.” Her book stemmed from the interviews she conducted with other women entrepreneurs — from diverse backgrounds such as the news, fitness and tech industries — all about where they are now and how they came to be there.

Clark started the research for “The She Shift” back in 2016, and she began conducting the interviews with the women whom would feature in the book in 2016 as well. The book includes “inspirational quotes from high-powered women,” and advice, Clark said. Statistics also are included in the book about women in the labor force over the past several decades. “[I also write about] my own life story and how I got to be where I am today,” Clark said.

Did the interviewees have commonalities in their struggles?

Bold Business co-host Chantel George asked Clark what, if any, were the common struggles between the women that she interviewed for her book. Clark responded that a lot of the similar challenges were common to any emerging entrepreneur or startup founder, which is the struggle of “getting your name out there, and your message out there.” But the women themselves tended to have “all different pathways” of going about overcoming their struggles. “Any woman that would read [about these business women’s struggles] can relate to them [in some way.]”

Do you feel we live in a unique era for women?

Bold Business co-host David Grasso asked whether Clark believes, due to the flux of women involved in entrepreneurial ventures today, that this period in human history will be remembered differently — more positively — than past periods when the female presence in the workplace was not so strong. Clark responded that she indeed does believe this to be true. “Even in the past two years,” Clark said, “women are making [more of] a difference [in the entrepreneurial world.]” Women are empowering other women without being competitive. Clark is a firm believer in empowering the next generation of female entrepreneurs, and she said she believes that young women can be inspired, informed and enlightened by the women in her book.

Takeaway

“The She Shift” is about sending out a positive message to aspiring, female entrepreneurs. And the message is that “you can follow your passions. You can become an entrepreneur. And you can also work with other women,” Clark said. It is so important, Clark said, for emerging female entrepreneurs to have a supportive community of other women.